Example: Dwayne, kevin andre elliot at http://slanttruth.com, sylvia at http://problymchilde.wordpress.com, bfp at http://www.brownfemipower.com
i guess what really irritates, joanna, is that you have all kinds of attitudes about identity politics, but you have never once shown yourself actually familiar with their writing or that you keep up with their discussions these days. not these bloggers, but the people who were involved in the building of an identity politics movement in the first place: what they wrote then, 10 years ago, today. you don't have to read the bloggers, oh no. But you could go to the nearest bookstore.
I just got Gloria Anzaldua's 'this bridge we call home' the updated version 'this bridge we call our back' with white women and men, among many other groups, and made some other very different arguments from the ones you typically attribute to id politis proponents like anzaldua.
in other words, you act as if you came up with the critique that has led to developments like this book edited by Anzaldua. And yet, *they* came up with it way before you ever made a post to this list. They were writing about it in the 80s for pete's sake. and not one word of attribution is given them when you claim your criticisms. if you were familiar with the terrain, you wouldn't dare write like that.
it's insulting to all those, especially women of color, who have been working on stuff that you would approve of, long before you bothered to make the arguments here.
On Jan 6, 2008 3:58 PM, Joanna <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
> Dwayne Monroe wrote:
> > Listen, I get the point about straddling worlds and assuming different
> > masks and all that. The thing is, I no longer believe the black mask
> > (no pun intended, DC comics fans) is as authentic as many suppose. I
> > mean, one of my cousins is convinced that the way to be 'authentic' is
> > via emulation of Tupac, with a little cholo tossed in. We all agree
> > he's a jackass. But how is his presentation any less constructed and
> > conditional than the ones we celebrate and write poems about?
> >
> Exactly. I think those who feel themselves very clever by diagnosing
> "white righteousness" as the driving force behind Obama's campaign are
> missing the point.
>
> That point being that it looks like a lot of this country is really sick
> and tired of identity politics. I certainly am.
>
> Is Obama black? Well, fifty years ago, he would not have been able to
> ride in the front of a bus. So, yeah, sure. Otherwise, I'm not sure what
> this question is asking.
>
> I most certainly care whether he has any sympathy or understanding of
> minorities, the working class, and the oppressed, but I don't think his
> "blackness" is any guarantee of that -- any more so than Condolezza's or
> Clarence Thomas's, etc.
>
> What interests me deeply is this new public attitude that race
> doesn't/shouldn't matter. And we're not talking bubble land (bay area or
> NYC); we're talking Iowa. That's as a good a first step as I've seen in
> a while.
>
> Joanna
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>